While originally being made with locally grown ingredients, sancocho is a soup made in the Dominican Republic that my mother and her whole side of the family has preserved in their immigration to the United States. This is a soup in which ingredients grown on the family’s farm are used to make a large meal that is to be shared by many family members or guests close to the family. There are various kinds of sancocho depending on where one comes from in the Dominican Republic. My mother, for example, is from the south where the broth is thicker, while my uncle comes from the north where the broth is thinner and usually goes on white rice. My mother as well as my aunt and uncle, usually make sancocho in a large pot for holidays and family gatherings, and many family members help make the meal and it helps bring us all together. This was a custom in the Dominican Republic that symbolized how they lived there through the locally obtained ingredients and has been preserved here in the United States, despite lack of access to the same ingredients.

– Benjamin L

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant